It has been a week already since I started Shortcut to Shred, and I won’t deny I was a little intimidated by the sudden caloric increase in my diet. This morning, just as I did last Wednesday as soon as I woke up, I took my new set of pictures, got on the scale, measured myself and measured my body fat % using my very cheap caliper.
Before I continue to compare today’s measurements with last week’s, I will talk a little about my experience during this first week when it.
The Workout
For me it was completely new to include any form of cardiovascular exercise in between sets. Since most complains online were in regards to these cardio exercises affecting weight load and causing trouble keeping up with the same weight during the whole set of the same exercise, I came to the conclusion that either these people suffer of lack of conditioning, or my conditioning is way better than theirs. When using the BodySpace app to track my workouts, you have the option to include or exclude these extra sets of exercise. I personally included them, and at no time my weight load was affected during my lifting. Something I’m aware of is, starting today my weight load is supposed to increase each week, so what effect cardio acceleration will have on my workout is still a mystery. The only down side was that I was sweating way too much, and I wouldn’t even consider that a bad thing.
The Nutrition
As I mentioned before, my caloric intake was raised almost 1000 calories based on the amount of macros I had to eat during this first week. From my previous experience, I distributed my macros during the day as it has worked best for me. That made it easier to schedule my meals and not feel like I was force feeding myself, expect for the first and probably second day. Although I didn’t reach the fats target, I was able to be consistent with my protein and carbohydrates.
Based on my new weight and because I’m starting Phase 2, my macros have been adjusted as shown below.
| Macros | Day 1 | Day 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 276 g | 273.6 g |
| Carbs | 276 g | 182.4 g |
| Fats | 92 g | 91.2 g |
The Results
As you can see below, I was able to lower my waist measurement and even dropped some weight. My goal at this moment is to lower my body fat, and as much as I would like to stay in the weight range of 182-185 lbs, I’m not really worried about losing some weight for now. Based on the pictures, my posing might have been a little different in some cases, and while my back seems to have lost some definition, my abs look like might have gained definition and probably my thighs did as well. For only one week of training, at least there was some significant change overall.
| Stats | Day 1 | Day 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 184.2 | 182.3 |
| Waist | 33.5″ | 33.0″ |
| Body Fat | 12.98 % | 12.68 % |
